William A. Wheeler, in full William Almon Wheeler (born June 30, 1819, Malone, New York, U.S.—died June 4, 1887, Malone) 19th vice president of the United States (1877–81) who, with Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes, took office by the decision of an Electoral Commission appointed to rule on contested electoral ballots in the 1876 election.

William Wheeler.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Wheeler was the son of Almon Wheeler, a lawyer, and Eliza Woodworth. He was a successful lawyer and held several positions in New York state government in the 1840s and ’50s before serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1861–63). Returned to Congress in 1875, he was appointed to a committee investigating a disputed election in Louisiana and devised the “Wheeler compromise,” by which governmental control of the state was shared between the Democratic and Republican parties.

He was nominated as vice president in order to lend sectional balance to the ticket, and in his acceptance letter he alluded to the need to end Reconstruction, as Hayes subsequently did. Wheeler ran on a platform favouring administrative integrity, civil service reform, and aid to education in the South. Distracted by health and personal problems—his wife died just prior to the Republican convention in 1876—he retired from public life after his term in office was over.

Campaign material for Rutherford B. Hayes (left) and William A. Wheeler for the 1876 U.S. …

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (file no. LC-DIG-pga-03113)

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(1819-87). The bitterly contested United States presidential election of 1876 was decided two days before the previous president’s term expired. An electoral commission ruled that Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was the winner-with his running mate, William Almon Wheeler, becoming the nation’s 19th vice-president.